Hitler's youth (German: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ in German) is a youth organization of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and received the name of Hitler-Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("Hitler Youth, Youth Workers League of Germany") in July 1926. From 1933 to 1945, it was the only official youth organizations in Germany and partly paramilitary organizations; it consisted of the Hitler Youth appropriately for boys aged 14 to 18, the German Youth in Hitler Youth ( Deutsches Jungvolk in der Hitler Jugend or "DJ", also "DJV") for boys. younger men aged 10 to 14, and the German Gender League ( Bund Deutsche MÃÆ'¤del or "BDM").
With the Nazi Germany surrender in 1945, the de facto organization no longer existed. On October 10, 1945, Hitler's youth and his subordinate units were banned by the Allied Control Council along with other Nazi Party organizations. Under Article 86 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hitler Youth is an "unconstitutional organization" and the distribution or use of public symbols, except for educational or research purposes, is not permitted.
Video Hitler Youth
Origins
In 1922, the Munich-based Nazi Party formed an official youth organization called Jugendbund der NSDAP . It was announced on March 8, 1922 at the VÃÆ'¶lkischer Beobachter, and its first meeting took place on 13 May of the same year. Another youth group was founded in 1922 as Jungsturm Adolf Hitler Ã, . Based in Munich, Bavaria, it served to train and recruit future members of Sturmabteilung (SA), the main paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party at the time. One of the reasons for Hitler's youth so easily arose from the fact that many youth movements existed throughout Germany before and especially after World War I. This youth organization was created for a variety of purposes; some are religious in dispositions and others are ideological, but more important among them are those formed for political reasons, such as "Young Conservatives" or "Young Protestants". As soon as Hitler came to the revolutionary scene, the transition from a seemingly innocuous youth movement into a fast-paced Hitler-focused political entity.
Following the failed Beer Hall Putsch (in November 1923), groups of Nazi youths seemed to be dissolved, but many elements just went underground, operating secretly in small units under pseudonyms. In April 1924, Jugendbund der NSDAP was renamed Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung (Great German Youth Movement). On July 4, 1926, the Grossdeutsche Jugendbewegung was officially renamed Hitler Jugend Bund der deutschen Arbeiterjugend (Hitler Youth League of the German Youth Workers). This incident occurred a year after the Nazi Party itself has been reorganized. The architect of the reorganization was Kurt Gruber, a law student from Plauen in Saxony.
After a brief power struggle with a rival organization - Gerhard RoÃÆ'Ÿbach's Schilljugend - Gruber won and his "Greater German Youth Movement" became the official youth organization of the Nazi Party. In July 1926, his name was changed to Hitler-Jugend, Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend ("Hitler Youth, the German Youth Workers' League") and, for the first time, officially became an integral part of Sturmabteilung . The name Hitler-Jugend was taken at the suggestion of Hans Severus Ziegler. In 1930, Hitlerjugend (HJ) has enrolled more than 25,000 boys aged 14 and over. They also set up a junior branch, Deutsches Jungvolk (DJ), for boys aged 10 to 14. Girls from 10 to 18 are given their own parallel organization, League of German Girls (BDM).
In April 1932, Chancellor Heinrich BrÃÆ'¼ning banned the Hitler Youth movement in an attempt to stop widespread political violence. But in June, Brüchs substitute as Chancellor Franz von Papen lifted the ban as a way of calming Hitler, a rising political star. A further significant expansion drive began in 1933, after Baldur von Schirach was appointed by Hitler as the first ReichsjugendfÃÆ'¼hrer (Reich Youth Leader). All youth organizations are brought under the control of Schirach.
Maps Hitler Youth
Doctrine
The members of Hitler's Youth were seen as the guarantor of the future of Nazi Germany and were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology, including racism. Hitler's youth utilized many activities of the Scout movement (which was banned in 1935), including camping and hiking. However, over time it changes in content and intent. For example, many activities are similar to military training, with weapons training, attack training circuits, and basic tactics. The goal is to instill motivation that will allow its members to fight faithfully for Nazi Germany as an army. There is a great emphasis on physical fitness and violence and military training rather than on academic studies. Sacrifices for the cause were implanted into their training. Former Hitler Youth, Franz Jagemann claims for example that the idea of ​​"Germany should live" even if they (HJ members) must die is "hammered" into them.
Hitler's youth were used to disperse Church youth groups, and in anti-Church indoctrination, used to spy on religious classes and Bible lessons, and disrupt church attendance. The education and training program for Hitler Youth was designed to weaken the values ​​of the traditional structures of the German society along with their rights; their training also aims to eliminate social and intellectual differences among the classes, thus being replaced and dominated by the political goals of Hitler's totalitarian dictatorship. In addition to promoting the classless doctrine, additional training is provided which links the enemies of a country identified as Jews to Germany's previous defeat in the First World War, and the decline of society. As historian Richard Evans puts it, "The songs they sing are Nazi songs.The books they read are Nazi books."
Uniforms and emblems
Summer member uniforms consist of black shorts and a brown shirt with a pocket, worn with black rolled neckerchief secured with woggle, usually tucked under the collar. The head cover initially consisted of a beret, but this was discarded by HJ in 1934. One flag/symbol used by HJ was similar to DJ, white Sieg rune on a black background, denoted "victory". Another flag used is a red-white-red striped flag with a black swastika in the center, inside a white diamond. Full members will also receive knives, with previous versions having the motto Blut und Ehre ("Blood and Honor").
Organization
Hitler's youth were organized into the corps under adult leaders, and HJ's general membership consisted of boys aged fourteen to eighteen. Hitler's youth are organized into local cells at the community level. Such cells hold weekly meetings in which various Nazi doctrines are taught by adult leaders. Regional leaders usually organize demonstrations and field exercises in which some Hitler Youth cells will participate. The biggest meetings are usually held each year, in Nuremberg, where members from all over Germany will gather for the annual Nazi Party rallies. Because HJ and BDM are considered fully "Aryan" organizations by Nazi officials, premarital sex is actually pushed in their ranks.
Hitler's youth maintain a training academy that is comparable to the prep school, designed to nurture future Nazi Party leaders. Hitler's youth also defended several corps designed to develop future officers for the Wehrmacht (Armed Forces). The Corps offers special basic training for each of the special weapons in which the member is ultimately destined. The Hitler Laut (Marine-HJ) youth, for example, served as a maid for Kriegsmarine. Another branch of Hitler's Youth is the Deutsche Arbeiter Jugend - HJ (German Youth Worker - HY). This organization in Hitler Youth is a training ground for future leaders and technicians. The symbol is a sunrise with a swastika.
Hitler's youth regularly issued the monthly magazine Wille und Macht (Will and Power). This publication is also the official organ and its editor is Baldur von Schirach. Other publications include Die Kameradschaft (Comradeship), which has a girl version for BDM called MÃÆ'¤delschaft , and an annual book called Jungen eure Welt > (Your World Youth).
Another program titled Landjahr Lager (Country Service Camp) is designed to teach selected girls of the high standard of BDM moral character in a rural education environment.
Membership
In 1923, the Nazi Party youth organization had more than 1,200 members. In 1925, when the Nazi Party was restored, its membership grew to more than 5,000. Five years later, national membership reached 26,000. By the end of 1932, the number reached 107,956. The Nazis came to power in 1933, and membership of the Hitler Youth organization increased dramatically to 2,300,000 by the end of the year. Much of this increase comes from the forced takeover of other youth organizations. The large Evangelische Jugend (Evangelical Youth), the Lutheran youth organization of 600,000 members, was integrated on February 18, 1934. In 1934, a law declaring the Hitler Youth to be the only youth organization permitted law in Germany. , and states that "all the young Germans in the Reich are organized in Hitler Youth".
By December 1936, Hitler's Youth membership had reached over five million. In the same month, membership became mandatory for "Aryan", under Gesetz ÃÆ'¼ber die Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth Law). This legal obligation was reaffirmed in March 1939 with the Jugenddienstpflicht (Duty of the Youth Service), which required all young Germans to become Hitler Youth - even if the parents objected. Parents who refuse to allow their children to join are subject to investigations by the authorities. Since then, most of the German teenagers belong to Hitler's Youth. By 1940, he had eight million members.
Students who do not join are often given essays with titles such as "Why am I not in Hitler Youth?" They also often get ridicule from teachers and schoolmates, and can even be denied their diplomas - which makes it impossible to get admitted to the university. Some employers refuse to offer apprentices to anyone who is not a member of Hitler's Youth. In 1936, Hitler's youth monopolized all youth sports facilities in Germany, effectively locking non-members. Over time, a number of boys scuffed under the regular nature of the organization; some even go out and just rejoin when they know they can not get a job or enter university without becoming a member. Effectively, the Hitler Youth was the single most successful of all the mass movements in the Third Reich.
There were some members of Hitler's Youth who personally disagreed with the Nazi ideology. For example, Hans Scholl - the brother of Sophie Scholl and one of the leading figures of the anti-Nazi resistance movement WeiÃÆ'Ÿe Rose (White Rose) - is also a member of Hitler's Youth.
World War II
On May 1, 1940, Artur Axmann was appointed as a representative of Schirach, whom he succeeded as the ReichsjugendfÃÆ'¼hrer of the Hitler Youth on August 8, 1940. Axmann began to reform the group into additional troops who could perform the task of war. Hitler's youth became active in the German fire brigade and assisted the recovery efforts for German cities affected by Allied bombings. Hitler's youth also helped organizations such as the Reich post service, Reich rail service, and other government offices; HJ members also assisted the army and served with anti-aircraft defense crew.
In 1943, Nazi leaders began turning Hitler's Youth into a military reserve to replace the exhausted workforce due to tremendous military losses. The idea for the Waffen-SS division composed of members of Hitler Youth was first proposed by Axmann to Heinrich Himmler's ReichsfÃÆ'¼hrer-SS in early 1943. The plan for a combat division made up of members of Hitler's Youth born in 1926 was continued to Hitler for his approval. Hitler approved the plan in February and Gottlob Berger was assigned to recruit. Fritz Witt of SS Division Leibstandarte (LSSAH) was appointed as division commander.
In 1944, the 12th SS-Panzer Division Hitlerjugend was deployed during the Battle of Normandy against British and Canadian troops north of Caen. Nearly 20,000 young Germans participated in an attempt to repulse the D-Day invasion; while they dropped 28 Canadian tanks during their first attempt, they eventually lost 3,000 lives before the Normandy attack was over. Over the following months, the division gained a reputation for savagery and fanaticism. When Witt was killed by allied naval fire, SS- BrigadefÃÆ'¼hrer Kurt Meyer took command and became division commander at the age of 33.
As German casualties escalated with a combination of Operation Bagration and Operation Lvov-Sandomierz in the east, and Operation Cobra in the west, members of Hitlerjugend were recruited at a younger age. In 1945, the Volkssturm generally composed a 12-year-old Hitler Youth member into his ranks. During the Battle of Berlin, Hitler's Youth from Axmann formed a major part of the last German line of defense, and was reported among the most fierce fighters. Although the city commander, General Helmuth Weidling, ordered Axmann to dissolve Hitler Youth's combat formations, in the confusion of this order was never done. Remnants of youth brigades took many casualties from advanced Russian troops; only two survived.
Post World War II
Hitler's youth was dissolved by the Allied authorities as part of the denazification process. Some members of Hitler's Youth were suspected of war crimes but, since they were children, no serious attempt was made to prosecute these claims. While Hitler's youth was never declared a criminal organization, his adult leadership was considered contaminated for ruining the minds of the German youth. Many adult leaders of Hitler Youth were tried by Allied authorities, and Baldur von Schirach was sentenced to 20 years in prison, never revealing anything valuable about the collaboration between SS and HJ. However, he was convicted of crimes against humanity for his acts as Vienna's Gauleiter, not because of his leadership of the Hitler Youth, as Artur Axmann had served as a functioning leader of the Hitler Youth from 1940 onwards.. Axmann received only 39 months' imprisonment in May 1949, but was not found guilty of war crimes. Then, in 1958, the West Berlin court fined Axman 35,000 mark (about Ã, Â £ 3,000, or $ 8,300 USD), about half the value of his property in Berlin. The court found him guilty for indoctrinating the German youth with National Socialism until the end of the war, but concluded he was innocent of war crimes.
German children born in the 1920s and 1930s became adults during the Cold War years. Since membership is mandatory after 1936, it is not surprising or unusual that many senior Western and West German leaders have become members of Hitler's Youth. Little effort was made to blacklist the political figures who were members, as many had no choice in this regard. These German post-war leaders once became part of the important institutional elements of Nazi Germany. Historian Gerhard Rempel argues that Nazi Germany itself is unlikely to conceive without the Hitler Youth, as their members are "social, political and military resilience of the Third Reich" and are part of "incubators who defend the political system by replenishing the dominant party ranks and preventing the growth of the opposition of the masses. "Rempel also reported that most of the boys on duty at HJ gradually came to the realization that" they had worked and worked hard for criminal purposes ", which they had taken a lifetime; some of them remembering "losing their freedom" and claiming their time at HJ "have robbed their normal childhood." Historian Michael Kater recounted how many had served at HJ silent until old age when they became grandparents, and while they could finally look back to their place in "oppressed, maimed, and murdered millions" dictatorship, he maintained that the " honest "should lead them to conclude that their past contributions to the regime have" ruined their own souls. "
After the Nazi Germany was defeated by Allied Powers, Hitler's Youth - like all NSDAP organizations - was officially abolished by the Allied Control Council on October 10, 1945 and later banned by the German Criminal Code.
See also
- VorwÃÆ'¤rts! VorwÃÆ'¤rts! - Hitler Youth National Anthem
- The German Youth Movement
- The German National Socialist Student League
- National Child School School League
- Nationale Jeugdstorm - Dutch Fascist Youth Movement
- Opera Nazionale Balilla - Italian Fascist youth movement
References
Information notes
Quote
Bibliography
External links
- Media related to Hitlerjugend on Wikimedia Commons
- Neville Chamberlain wrote to the Hitler Youth on archive.org
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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